Toyota has officially started producing a brand new car at its Derbyshire factory that it says will play a "critical role" in its ambitions in Europe.

This morning, the Japanese manufacturer held a ceremony at its Burnaston factory to celebrate the beginning of production of the all-new Toyota Corolla.

The car is a replacement for the Auris, a vehicle which the factory had been making since 2007.

Burnaston is making two versions of the Corolla - a hatchback and an estate - the latter known as the Touring Sports.

According to the company, the new Corolla will go on sale in Europe next month - and will be the first Toyota model to offer customers the choice of two self-charging hybrid powertrains.

The cars will go on sale across Europe next month (Image: Toyota)

The Corolla offers a choice of an upgraded 1.8 litre engine that is manufactured at the Toyota’s Deeside engine plant in North Wales, and a new 2.0-litre hybrid powertrain. There will be no diesel version.

The new car is being built following a £240 million investment in Burnaston by Toyota. The cash has been used to introduce a new and more efficient way of building cars at the factory called the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform.

The interior of the new Toyota Corolla Touring Sports (Image: Toyota)

It has seen facilities at the factory upgraded with new equipment, technologies and systems. According to Toyota, it has included the installation of more than 200 high-speed robots.

Toyota’s decision to invest in the factory and build the new Corolla at Burnaston is a significant boost for the plant, particularly in light of the uncertainty posed by Brexit to the UK car industry.

Toyota invested £240 million in the Burnaston factory to improve production processes

Car manufacturers with factories in the UK have been calling for a free and frictionless trade agreement with the rest of Europe once Britain exits the EU.

This morning’s ceremony was attended by a number of Toyota’s top bosses, including president and chief executive of Toyota Motor Europe, Dr Johan van Zyl, who said that the new Corolla would play “a critical role” going forward.

Dr van Zyl, said: “Toyota Manufacturing UK was our first major manufacturing enterprise in Europe and we have invested more than £2.75 billion in its operations since the start of production in 1992.

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“As part of our strategy to secure the competitiveness of our UK operations, we took the decision in 2017 to upgrade our Burnaston plant to manufacture cars based on the new TNGA platform.

“The highly qualified workforce at TMUK has a fine record of delivering superior quality products.

“Our continued investments, combined with the dedication of our members, will ensure that we can deliver ever better cars to our customers.

Toyota Motor Europe president and chief executive Dr Johan van Zyl

“The new Corolla will play a critical role in our market ambitions in Europe. It delivers the benefits of the new TNGA platform and increases the appeal of our industry leading self-charging hybrid electric technology.”

At the ceremony, Dr van Zyl was joined by Japan’s ambassador to the UK Koji Tsuruoka and Business Secretary Greg Clark.

Also there was Marvin Cooke, managing director of Toyota Manufacturing UK (TMUK).